The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Sunday, for the third time, to let a contested US Postal Service mail-ballot rule take effect immediately — an escalating legal fight playing out just weeks before the November midterms.

The rule would require states to report basic voter information — name and home address — tied to a unique barcode printed on every mail ballot the state distributes, with postal workers instructed to deliver only ballots addressed to voters who appear on that state-provided list, according to NBC News' account of the emergency filing.

A judge's blunt warning

A federal judge has repeatedly blocked the rule from taking effect, finding that implementing it this close to the election "threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail." The judge went further, ruling the plan unconstitutional because it "intrudes not only on Congress's Elections Clause powers but also that power left to the States," per CNN's reporting on the ruling.

MILLIONS OF BALLOTS, ONE BARCODE RULE, THREE TRIPS TO THE HIGH COURT

In its latest emergency appeal, the Postal Service argued time is running out: mail ballots for the November midterms are already being sent to voters in North Carolina, with other states set to begin distribution soon, making swift Supreme Court intervention necessary before the rule becomes moot for this election cycle, according to ABC News' coverage of the dispute.

What's next

This marks the third time the administration has gone to the justices over this specific rule, a pattern that underscores how central mail-voting procedures have become to the pre-midterm legal landscape. The Supreme Court has not indicated when it will rule, but with ballots already moving in at least one state, a decision is expected within days rather than weeks.